GOD AND THE ISM
Communists since the middle of the 19th century have seen themselves as upholders of a materialist view of the world. The material conditions in which human beings live determine how they think and the ideas they advocate. Matter precedes the mind. This is how the young Karl Marx, in the 1840s, turned on their head the theories of his mentor, G.W.F. Hegel, who had seen history as the unfolding of the Idea. Marx declared in contrast that men make their own history through struggle under conditions that the past has created. One vital element in the making of those conditions was religion. Religion, Marx asserted, in a passage often torn out of context, in the past had been at the heart of man's existence: "It was the sigh of the oppressed and the oppressor." Religion had alienated man from his true potential and was thus the "opium of the masses". Marx was too good a student of human affairs to disregard religion. He saw it as something to be transcended, not as a point of departure but as a point of arrival.
The profundity of Marx's thoughts on this subject, as in many others, has been utterly distorted by his ardent disciples who practised communism. They saw religion as something to be destroyed and treated with contempt. Practitioners of communism thus saw themselves not only as dedicated atheists but also as being hostile to religion. In India, the net result of this was the creation of a gulf between the beliefs and practices of the common people and those of communists. Even members of communist parties, especially those who have jumped on the bandwagon of communism in Kerala and West Bengal and have little or no ideological commitment, have been unable to abandon their faith and their belief in god. This has created serious problems within the organization of communist parties. Witness the confusion within the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Following a controversy, the general secretary of the CPI(M), Prakash Karat, had to issue a "clarification" that there was no bar on believers in god joining the party but party functionaries should not believe in god and religion. This does not clarify anything. It only confirms the Orwellian principle that double standards are embedded in communist practice.
A deeper intellectual problem lurks behind this confusion. There is a deep-seated belief among communists that their ideology not only has answers to everything but it is also always right. Communists have made a method into an ideology. They are now unable to resolve the problem of religion which is of such critical importance to the lives of the poor whose cause communists seek to serve. No wonder Marx, towards the end of his life, announced, "Thank God I am not a communist."
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Opinion | God and the ism